Giant, sustainable rainforest fish is now fashion in America
Associated Press
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A light shines on a pirarucu skin at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Until recently, the skin of the pirarucu, the largest fish in the Amazon, had no commercial value. But a new technique and the fact that the fish are sustainably harvested has delighted boot manufacturers and the fashion industry. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Pirarucu skins are painted in different colors at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Workers stretch the skin of pirarucu to dry at the Nova Kaeru tannery factory in Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)A worker shows a scale of pirarucu at the Nova Kaeru tannery factory in Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Light shines on pirarucu skin at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Eduardo Filgueiras, owner of the Nova Kaeru tannery factory, poses for a photo at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Pirarucu skins is painted at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)A pirarucu skin is painted at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)A worker treats a pirarucu skin at the Nova Kaeru tannery factory in Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Women work on pirarucu skin at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Alex Dabagh, right, assembles a pirarucu leather bag, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in New York. Park Avenue International, a family-owned leather goods factory in Manhattan's Garment District, produces Piper & Skye's handbags made from the discarded skin of the giant endangered pirarucu, a giant fish native to the Amazon in Brazil. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)Fishermen brothers Gibson, right, and Manuel Cunha Da Lima, front, raise a pirarucu fish at a lake in San Raimundo settlement, at Medio Jurua region, Amazonia State, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Indigenous communities working together with non-Indigenous riverine settlers manage the pirarucu in preserved areas of the Amazon. Most of it is exported, and the U.S. is the primary market. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Alex Dabagh looks at a prototype while assembling pirarucu leather bags, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in New York. Park Avenue International, a family-owned leather goods factory in Manhattan's Garment District, produces Piper & Skye's handbags made from the discarded skin of the giant endangered pirarucu, a giant fish native to the Amazon in Brazil. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)Eimil Hachicho, left, and Alex Dabagh, right, assemble a pirarucu leather bag, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in New York. Park Avenue International, a family-owned leather goods factory in Manhattan's Garment District, produces Piper & Skye's handbags made from the discarded skin of the giant endangered pirarucu, a giant fish native to the Amazon in Brazil. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)Alex Dabagh looks through a box of newly-arrived pirarucu skins, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in New York. Park Avenue International, a family-owned leather goods factory in Manhattan's Garment District, produces Piper & Skye's handbags made from the discarded skin of the giant endangered pirarucu, a giant fish native to the Amazon in Brazil. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)Pirarucu leather bags and purses are displayed in Piper & Skye's showroom, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, in New York. In New York City, the luxury brand Piper & Skye has used pirarucu leather for shoulder bags, waist packs and purses that can fetch up to $850. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)Alex Dabagh uses a lighter to seal sewing seams on a pirarucu leather bag part, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in New York. Park Avenue International, a family-owned leather goods factory in Manhattan's Garment District, produces Piper & Skye's handbags made from the discarded skin of the giant endangered pirarucu, a giant fish native to the Amazon in Brazil. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)The pirarucu leather Mac Pack is displayed in Piper & Skye's showroom, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, in New York. In New York City, the luxury brand Piper & Skye has used pirarucu leather for shoulder bags, waist packs and purses that can fetch up to $850. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)The clay white Playa Shoulder Bag, made out of pirarucu leather, is displayed in Piper & Skye's showroom, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022, in New York. In New York City, the luxury brand Piper & Skye has used pirarucu leather for shoulder bags, waist packs and purses that can fetch up to $850. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)Fisherman Marco Aurelio Cauto Viana, carries pieces of a pirarucu fish in San Raimundo settlement, at Medio Jurua region, Amazonia State, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Indigenous communities working together with non-Indigenous riverine settlers manage the pirarucu in preserved areas of the Amazon. Most of it is exported, and the U.S. is the primary market. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Priscila Deus De Olivera, second from left, prepares Pirarucu pieces to cook at San Raimundo settlement in Carauari, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Indigenous communities working together with non-Indigenous riverine settlers manage the pirarucu in preserved areas of the Amazon. Most of it is exported, and the U.S. is the primary market. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)A worker stands near pirarucu in Carauari, Brazil, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. Indigenous communities working together with non-Indigenous riverine settlers manage the pirarucu in preserved areas of the Amazon. Most of it is exported, and the U.S. is the primary market. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)A man separates leather from the body of a pirarucu fish at an industrial refrigeration factory of Asproc, Association of Rural Producers of Carauari, Amazonia, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022. The pirarucus are then taken from the lakes to a large boat by the Jurua River. There they are gutted, a task that is mostly done by women, and put on ice. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Boat with members of Pirarucu Collective cross a channel from a lake to another at San Raimundo settlement, in Carauari, Brazil, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. Indigenous communities working together with non-Indigenous riverine settlers manage the pirarucu in preserved areas of the Amazon. Most of it is exported, and the U.S. is the primary market. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)Daniel Abruccini, public relation specialist, holds a frozen Pirarucu skin, that arrived from the Amazonas to the Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)A worker holds a pirarucu skin at the Nova Kaeru tannery factory in Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Thousands of miles away from the Amazon, down a hilly dirt road on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Nova Kaeru will process about 50,000 skins from legally-caught giant pirarucu or arapaima fish this year. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
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A light shines on a pirarucu skin at Nova Kaeru tannery factory at Tres Rios municipality, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Until recently, the skin of the pirarucu, the largest fish in the Amazon, had no commercial value. But a new technique and the fact that the fish are sustainably harvested has delighted boot manufacturers and the fashion industry. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
